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business is an immensely profitable one. The average house
takes five or ten pounds a night, with no bad debts (credit
being strictly forbidden), and except for rent the expenses
are small. Any improvement would mean less crowding,
and hence less profit. Still, the excellent municipal lodg-
ing-house at Croydon shows how well one CAN be served
for ninepence. A few well-directed laws could make these
conditions general. If the authorities are going to concern
themselves with lodging-houses at all, they ought to start
by making them more comfortable, not by silly restrictions
that would never be tolerated in a hotel.
Down and Out in Paris and London
